Lake Tobias
Hidden in the little borough of Halifax in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, is a wonderful day of education, exploration and adventure. Welcome to Lake Tobias Wildlife Park. Lake Tobias is currently home to over 700 animals ranging from reptiles to giraffes. What began as just “something to do during retirement” for J.R. Tobias has turned into a family legacy spanning three generations.
J.R. Tobias enlisted as a Marine in 1943. After his military time he owned a dairy, a John Deere dealership and an excavating company. He went away with a friend and came back with six baby animals. The neighbors were intrigued and wanted to meet the baby animals and he began charging them each 25 cents entry fee. The idea grew. He used the excavating equipment and created the lake for which the park is named from some natural springs.
Today the park is run by his six living children and grandchildren. The park opens at 10:00 and the cost is not terrible. We paid $21.00 each. This included the zoo and the safari. Children two and under are free and, because of his military time and that of his wife (she served in WAC during WWII), all active military and veterans are completely free. Free! Not a military discount, Zach got in for free. ♥
We started our day by hustling to the giraffe exhibit. An announcement came over the loudspeakers that are stationed throughout the park reminding us of the 10:30 giraffe feeding time. The line had already begun to form. You could purchase acacia branches for the giraffes or a handful of carrots or green beans. They had run out of branches by the time we got to the booth (this is the only place we encountered all day where cash was needed). We purchased one bunch of carrot sticks and one bunch of green beans.
What you may not know about me, that my grandchildren can all testify is true, is that I love giraffes. I have been blessed to feed giraffes at the Montgomery Zoo and the Jacksonville Zoo. I was giddy about this opportunity. Because we did not have a branch and we had littles we chose a larger giraffe that could reach over the space between their enclosure and our platform. We were rewarded with a delightful giraffe. Waylon, being five, needed to be helped up but was very brave and held out the carrot sticks. The tongue of a giraffe can be from 17- 19 INCHES long. They are just such miraculous gentle giants. God, Holy Spirit and Jesus must have just had such a blast during creation. The imagination involved in creating all of the beautiful creatures blows my mind!
Waylon and I feeding one of the giraffes at Lake Tobias, Halifax, PA
We saw some other animals and headed to find a spot for lunch. Lake Tobias does not charge to park and they have plenty of picnic areas under cover. There were food stands but you know me….I packed. Zach and Sarah had also brought sandwiches, chips and some authentic ATreat soda as a treat for all the grown-ups. ♥
We found a wonderful little picnic area on an island, maybe 25 feet in diameter. You had only to cross a bridge and there was a lovely, shaded spot with two picnic tables and fencing all around to keep us out of the water. The boys and I did venture to the neighboring bridge that was over deeper water. We took along some of the leftover bread from our sandwiches and fed the fish. The boys had a great time as dozens of sunnies leapt out of the water for our bread!
From there the adventure continued. We saw bears, ostriches and zebras. All the animals here have good sized habitats and the animals seem content. Our next tour was the Museum and Education center. Here we were regaled with trivia about ostrich eggs. Did you know you would need two dozen chicken eggs (yolk and whites only) to fill an average ostrich egg? We later learned our educator was one of the grandsons of J.R. Tobias who is employed at the zoo. There was educational information about the history of the park and also a tank with a river sting ray, which I must admit I did not even know existed.
Museum and Education Center at Lake Tobias
The petting zoo was great fun and we spent a lot of time there. We were able to purchase cups of nugget food for the animals. Waylon and Weston spent time feeding goats of all sizes, a miniature horse and lamas.
Petting Zoo at Lake Tobias
We were also treated to baby emus in the nursery.
Baby Emus in the Nursery at Lake Tobias
The Reptile and Exotics House was hosting one of their educational reptiles shows. The park was full this particular day with Summer Camp kids. They were all enthralled as the park educators talked about and showed off everything from a two toed sloth to a 92 year old alligator snapping turtle. In this building we also saw marmosets, tortoises, poisonous dart frogs, macaws and numerous snakes.
Marmoset in the Reptiles and Exotics Building, Lake Tobias, Halifax, PA
We ventured to the gift shop for post cards and Christmas ornaments (a Hagmayer tradition that Zach and his family are continuing ♥). Then it was time….we were off to the safari!!!
Zach took our petting zoo cups and paid $2.00 each for a refill and we waited for the next bus to depart. Verenda was our tour guide, she gets a 10plus! She was engaging, informational and funny. We were given our multitude of dos and don’ts and off we went. When the bus stopped and was turned off the animals would approach to be fed. The boys were able to feed donkeys, elk, bison, eland and deer. We also saw white male rhea birds sitting on their nests, a Texas longhorn with 7 foot wide horn span and a brahma cow as we ventured across a 150 acres.
Texas Longhorn and Brahma at Lake Tobias
All in all we were at Lake Tobias for five hours. It was a warm day but there was ample shade. There were well placed restrooms, which is helpful for littles and old people. The only knock I could find is the fact I did not see a single water bottle refilling station. On hot days with small children water bottle refilling stations are a must.
I would highly recommend families take a day trip to Lake Tobias, you will make great memories and not break the bank!
Check out TC’s adventure at Lake Tobias….